Lisburn soldiers speak of roles in Afghanistan

TWO
servicemen from Lisburn have featured this week on a series of special TV
reports from Helmand Province in Afghanistan.

Mervyn Jess from BBC Newsline spoke to Lance Corporal
David Holdsworth, who is a Vehicle Commander for the Force Protection Group,
and Sergeant Mark Porter of 209 Signal Squadron, who is the controller of
flights into and out of Lashgar Gah helicopter landing pad which is one of
the most important landing zones in all of Helmand Province.

"I deal with a lot of different types of aircraft from
different countries but I see a lot of happy faces here when the mail flight
arrives," said Sergeant Porter. Lance Corporal Holdsworth said: Our job is
to clear a route out and a route back to base again for the combat supply

convoys. It can be a tedious and slow job but we have
dealt with a large number of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) during our
time here."

Mervyn spent just over a week in Helmand with 19 Light
Brigade whose home base is Northern Ireland — in barracks in Thiepval,
Ballykinler, Massereene and Holywood.

When the Brigade moved to Afghanistan it was the biggest
deployment of troops from Northern Ireland since World War II with more than
3000 soldiers leaving. Among this number are many Northern Ireland-born
service men and women.

The reports, which conclude on Friday evening, are also
available to view again on the BBC Newsline website
www.bbc.co.uk/news